DONNIE McGilvray, 40, proposed to his girlfriend Eloise Donnelly by lining up six Coca-Cola bottles with specially printed labels in their fridge.

Donnie Mcgilvray proposed to his girlfriend Eloise by using Coke bottles

A MAN whose romantic proposal using Coke bottle labels melted hearts around the world walked out on his first marriage and abandoned his two eldest children.

Donnie McGilvray, 40, proposed to his girlfriend Eloise Donnelly by lining up six Coca-Cola bottles with specially printed labels in their fridge.

But the stunt failed to impress friends of his first wife Sarah after he walked out on her when their youngest child was just five months old before starting a relationship with Eloise, who was just 18 at the time.

Supermarket worker Donnie used the six bottles in his fridge to spell out “Beautiful Eloise Will You Marry Me?” and placed an engagement ring in a glass with a bunch of red roses on the shelf below.

Donnie Mcgilvray proposed to his girlfriend Eloise by using Coke bottles

When he posted a photo of the unique proposal on the Coca-Cola Facebook page, it went viral. It got more than a million likes and the wedding was pencilled in for 2016.

But it left former pals of Donnie and Sarah furious, with one branding him “rotten to the core”.

Sarah, 35, divorced him in 2012 after 11 years of marriage. But, according to pals, Donnie hasn’t seen his eldest kids, a son aged six and a nine-year-old daughter, for almost five years.

Sources say that the fall-out from his relationship with Eloise meant the pair eventually moved 170 miles from Fort William to live in Tain, Easter Ross. They have a daughter aged four and son, two.

When Nicola MacInnes, a former friend of Donnie’s and Sarah’s who now lives in Glasgow, saw his proposal stunt online, she said: “What a disgrace. Why not broadcast to the world how you decided never to see your first two children again. How you chose never to see them as soon as your baby with Eloise was born.

“He abandoned his beautiful kids, yet he plays happy families with Eloise and their children. Hope you are racked with guilt every moment of every day. Rotten to the core so you are, Donnie.”

Liz Wood, from Fort William, one of Donnie’s former colleagues, was also fuming and branded the Co-op employee a “snake in the grass”.

Sarah McCluskie - ex-wife of Donnie McGilvray

She said: “Not a nice man by far. I find this priceless – his romantic proposal,what a load of c***!”

When the Sunday Mail approached Sarah, she declined to comment.

A friend said: “People are angry as they saw what he did and now he’s being made out to be this loving, great, thoughtful guy. Donnie isn’t in Sarah’s kids’ lives. He made the decision to have nothing to do with them.

“They are young and have only now accepted what’s happened and got used to it.

“Part of her would love to tell the world what he is like. It’s been all everybody’s been talking to her about.”

The pal said Donnie told Sarah about Eloise after they split up but claimed the relationship only started after their break-up.

The friend added: “She still doesn’t know the ins and outs of it. He said it happened after they split but it must have been very quick.

“Most people who were mutual friends are now just Sarah’s friends. After everybody saw what he had done, we all just took sides. That’s why he upped and left. I don’t think they were very popular after it all came out.

“Eloise had a boyfriend and there was a bit of aggro about that too.”

Donnie posted the photo on Coca-Cola’s Facebook page, commenting under the picture: “I asked my girlfriend Eloise to put the milk away in the fridge and this is what she saw. The ‘ice’ was in the glass. Thanks Coca-Cola for all the help, she said yes!”

A day after the proposal, Coca-Cola responded to the photo congratulating the newly engaged couple.

Donnie and Eloise refused to comment on the claims when we contacted them.